Jonathan Miller
Why I regret buying an electric car
19 April 2021, 1:00am
From Spectator Life
Why I regret buying an electric car

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Ibought an electric car and wish I hadn’t. It seemed a good idea at the time, albeit a costly way of proclaiming my environmental virtuousness. The car cost €44,000, less a €6,000 subsidy courtesy of French taxpayers, the overwhelming majority poorer than me. Fellow villagers are driving those 20-year-old diesel vans that look like garden sheds on wheels.

I order the car in May 2018. It’s promised in April 2019. ‘No later,’ promises the salesman at the local Hyundai dealer. April comes and goes. No car. I phone the dealership. No explanation. The car finally arrives two months late, with no effort by Hyundai to apologise. But I Iove it. It’s quiet, quick and with the back seats down, practical with plenty of room for the dogs. It does insist on sharply reminding me to keep my hands on the steering wheel, even when they’re on it. And once alarmingly slamming on the brakes for no discernible reason.

I’ve installed a charger in my driveway so I plug the car in. It works first time! Then the boss turns on the kettle and every fuse in the house trips. The car is chargeable, but only if you don’t cook, wash clothes or turn on the dishwasher at the same time.

First road trip. Off to the centre of France with the horse-obsessed boss to watch a three-day equestrian event. I consult an app that promises an high-speed charger half way to my destination. We arrive and hunt and ultimately find the charger. It doesn’t work. Range anxiety? More like a panic attack.

We make it to the next charger on the motorway with the battery practically empty and my marriage in peril. It works! But subsequently, EDF, the French electric utility, simply shuts down its entire motorway network after discovering the chargers are not just unreliable but dangerous. In Britain, meanwhile, the Department for Transport has, I read, granted an exclusive contract to install rapid chargers at motorway service areas to a company glorying in the name Ecotricity. These turn out to be equally unreliable and very costly to use. Social networks are rapidly bombarded with complaints.

Back in France, after a two-month wait, EDF upgrades my home electricity supply. Rejoice! We can finally cook dinner and charge the car simultaneously. The little Kona is still mostly performing well. It’s fast. I could beat a sports car from a traffic light, except we have none in my corner of La France Profonde. It’s eerily quiet. But much as I attempt to defend my choice, I’m having doubts.

I meet a British couple in the supermarket car park, down for the summer, loading groceries into their electric Nissan. How was the trip down? I ask. ‘A nightmare’ of broken charging points, they reply, bitterly. A 10-hour trip took 18 hours, with lengthy stops at low-speed chargers, often miles off the highway.


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Given the impossibility of driving much farther than the airport with the motorway charging network still shut down, I resign myself to renting cars for trips beyond a limited radius from the house.

Next, a story appears that a Kona Electric identical to mine has spontaneously combusted in a garage in Montreal, totally destroying the car and the garage itself. The battery, made of lithium, burns for hours. Still no communication from Hyundai, which is said to be investigating, according to Canadian media.

Soon, Konas are bursting into flames all over the world. Continuing silence from Hyundai other than a disingenuous recall notice for a software update. A morning at the dealership waiting for an update to the battery management software. This consists of reducing the range of the car, although that isn’t explained. But it doesn’t work since recalled Konas are continuing to explode. Meanwhile, a second recall. The cars are not just auto-carbonising but the brakes are apparently susceptible to unpredictable total failure.

New press reports from Korea say Hyundai finally admits there is a hardware problem with the Kona and it is going to replace the batteries in 80,000 of them. But continuing silence from Hyundai France and it’s the same story across Europe. I read that owners in North America are being warned not to park in the garage. Hundreds have filed a class action demanding compensation.

Complaining to Hyundai on Twitter provokes a predictable response. Please direct message us so we can assist you. Translation: please stop posting messages in public so we can try to appease you quietly. I decline to play that game.

Hyundai’s latest stunt is to announce that it’s joined the new Ionity rapid recharge network and will offer a discount to owners. I call Ionity to find out how. They tell me to call my Hyundai dealer. I talk to someone who knows nothing but promises to call me back. I’m still waiting.

The problem with electric cars is that one must suffer to be a pioneer. It’s possibly like buying a petrol car at the beginning of the 20th century except instead of a man walking in front with a red flag, you need a fire marshal in a diesel with a tow rope.

WRITTEN BY
Jonathan Miller
Jonathan Miller is the author of France, a Nation on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (Gibson Square). Twitter: @lefoudubaron

We are still a long way from our transportation infrastructure being developed enough to support mass scale electric vehicle usage. And I doubt the cost of getting there has been built into the EV business case.

they can pry my ICE vehicle from my cold dead hands

---------------------

I don’t see how an electric car can be YOUR ONLY vehicle. At the very least I would rent an ICE vehicle for long trips.

As a second or primary day to day vehicle fantastic but for any length of a trip. No way.

At this stage in the infrastructure something like the Volt makes FAR more sense IMO.

quote:

Originally posted by Sig209:
they can pry my ICE vehicle from my cold dead hands

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If it’s anything like hi cap mags, be sure to buy two ICE vehicles the next time you purchase one so you’ll have enough spare parts to keep the first one going when the government rules they’re no longer allowed!

Who remembers General Motors EV-1?
Maybe if they had not canceled the program and then recalled all the cars(because they were leases) and then destroyed most of them they would be farther along with battery technology.

Do I think some day we will have reliable electric cars that will get good mileage of a charge, yes.
Do I think it will happen any time soon, no.
We still need vehicles that run on fossil fuels, and we will for a long long time to come.

First, we need nuclear power or we won't be able to charge massive numbers of electric cars. California already has routine blackouts.

A) Not knowing his electrical supply/having an adequate supply installed while he was waiting was on the author. That’s just stupidity/improper planning and whining about it’s effects.

B) The non-Tesla charging network/the Tesla charging network in some places, is an issue.

C) So is the overall capacity of the grid - which we’ve gone through, before. Old “electric” homes had few to no outlets, and with non-standard plugs, as they didn’t have much other than electric lights/perhaps fans.

D) Hybrid drive trains run everything where efficiency matters. It’s probably the near future in cars, as prices come down.

E) Life stores, and moves, energy as hydrocarbons. As my old prof said, “Life is perfect. If you think you know better, you’re wrong. Go find out why.”

Overall, I come out ahead on time, as I don’t have to fill up on a regular basis, vs when I have to charge on long trips.

An additional mistake was buying a Hyundai electric car. Their conventional, non-hybrid, ICE cars are OK, but ask member chongosuerte about Hyundai hybrids.

They won't. You can keep it until it rusts to dust. But at some point you won't be able to buy fuel for it when they shut down all the gas stations.

Edit: After I posted the above, I found the below. It's starting. Small scale, but starting.

https://www.motortrend.com/new...petaluma-california/

quote:

Originally posted by Sig209:
they can pry my ICE vehicle from my cold dead hands

---------------------

This message has been edited. Last edited by: BBMW,

An EV that recharges from brakes and friction ... what's wrong with that?
No need to find a charging outlet; fees and eventually queues.
And as read, upgrading the home electricals.

... I see the 2003 Honda Insight as being the one to have ... like this one (not mine).



Subaru have the XV Crosstrek and the Forester hybrids; these have an ICE, as well as the battery system that recharges from friction?

The environazis don't want anything that burns fuel. Hybrids aren't "pure" enough for them.

quote:

Originally posted by cjevans:
An EV that recharges from brakes and friction ... what's wrong with that?
No need to find a charging outlet; fees and eventually queues.
And as read, upgrading the home electricals.

... I see the 2003 Honda Insight as being the one to have ... like this one (not mine).



Subaru have the XV Crosstrek and the Forester hybrids; these have an ICE, as well as the battery system that recharges from friction?

It sounds more like he is mad with a Hyundai and his lack of preparation and research. If you go on long trips an electric car as your only car is a dumb move. Eventually it won’t be an issue but even people who have no knowledge of electric cars would know this.

Great idea, replace the batteries in 80,000 cars. NONE of which recyclable. So they have to go in a special landfill... somewhere.

You have a gasoline car, that properly maintained, can go 200+K miles and its 90+% recyclable. These electric vehicles batteries must be replaced periodically as the battery performance begins to degrade as soon as it is used much like your cell phone. So not only do you get to foot that bill, but those batteries are going to start piling up. And yes, they are full of toxic and harmful compounds. Saving the environment, yes they are.....

I am not looking forward to the proliferation of EV's and the mileage tax that they will usher in and big brother monitoring of how much I drive.

quote:

Originally posted by Rightwire:
Great idea, replace the batteries in 80,000 cars. NONE of which recyclable. So they have to go in a special landfill... somewhere.

You have a gasoline car, that properly maintained, can go 200+K miles and its 90+% recyclable. These electric vehicles batteries must be replaced periodically as the battery performance begins to degrade as soon as it is used much like your cell phone. So not only do you get to foot that bill, but those batteries are going to start piling up. And yes, they are full of toxic and harmful compounds. Saving the environment, yes they are.....

I’m not one to say electric cars are any more friendly to the environment than any other car but the non Recyclable battery thing comes up a lot. They most certainly do get recycled.

quote:

Originally posted by Krazeehorse:
I am not looking forward to the proliferation of EV's and the mileage tax that they will usher in and big brother monitoring of how much I drive.

All valid concerns. We know for a fact politicians are not going to miss out on the gasoline tax so they will most definitely come up with a mileage tax.

SC, I think, has an increased registration fee on electric cars to offset the gasoline tax loss.

I too bought an electric car to drive around in France. Thought having an electric city car would be great. I've documented my woes in some other threads here, but the bottom line is, I will NEVER buy an electric car again. Between lack of charging infrastructure, high cost of charging that eclipses equivalent european fuel cost per kilometer, electric vehicle for me is a dud. Luckily I have a gas car there too.

quote:

Originally posted by cslinger:
I don’t see how an electric car can be YOUR ONLY vehicle. At the very least I would rent an ICE vehicle for long trips.

As a second or primary day to day vehicle fantastic but for any length of a trip. No way.

At this stage in the infrastructure something like the Volt makes FAR more sense IMO.

Exactly what I did. I first leased mine for $199 a month for 3 years. It was my only car for those 3 years. When I needed more range, I rented whatever gas vehicle. During those 3 lease years I saved $ on what I would normally pay for a car payment to buy a performance car that I eventually traded in on my truck. Once the 3 year lease was up, I haggled in and out of state to buy the car from them, ultimately at $6700 purchase price + $1600 for a 7 year bumper to bumper factory warranty. All in with lease payments the car cost me $19.5k. I have panels on the house so fuel is relatively free for the car. My electric toaster still has 3 years left on the bumper to bumper warranty. And I have a gas truck for the weekends. Truck is about 1/2 paid off and when I pay it off I’m buying a manual performance car again. Looking forward to the new STi.

The electric toaster has been the best car I have ever owned. No maintenance, no issues of any kind and does what it’s supposed to do. Be a local commuter and the donkey in my fleet. Perfect for commuting, groceries, errands, etc. I removed all the EV badges and zero emissions bullshit from it as that is not what I got it for. It’s just a tool in the tool box. I see the Tesla prices, the fancy EV prices and cringe, no thanks. EV makes sense when you are just looking for a cheap DD, a beater. Nissan Leafs coming off lease, and BMW i3’s are excellent for this. You can buy them cheap. Fancy or expensive EV’s just don’t make any sense to me at all. EV’s make sense for local transport. Compact cars, like hatchbacks or maybe a compact truck in the future, as in a little city truck like those old Nissans, and Isuzus. But it’s economies of scale. All the mfr’s are focused on making the expensive EV”s but at some point there will be cheap versions or entry level cars akin to the Impreza, Corolla, and Civic. Until then forget it. As an owner I don’t like the fact that the mfr’s and the major countries are trying to force them down people’s throats. And the bullshit talk about so good for the environment. yeah for emissions as there is no tail pipe but mining the battery materials, especially the rare earth elements and what not, tears up the Earth as much as a gas car so it’s net even. My purchase was strictly financial. I’m under no delusion I’m saving anything.